On-line protein digestion and peptide mapping by capillary electrophoresis with post-column labeling for laser-induced fluorescence detection

A nanoliter enzyme microreactor was developed for on-line capillary electrophoresis (CE) peptide mapping of proteins, allowing picomole quantities of proteins to be digested. The enzyme microreactor was formed by immobilizing trypsin onto a monolithic capillary column, which was prepared by in situ polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate and ethylene dimethacrylate in a capillary. Highly efficient digestion of three protein standards was demonstrated. The detection of peptide fragments in CE was enhanced by post-column derivatization and laser-induced fluorescence detection. The microreactor has a volume of about 30 nL and is coupled with a separation capillary via a fluid joint for on-line digestion. The overall analysis, including digestion and separation, lasted only about 16 min. Column efficiencies > 300 000 plates/m were obtained for most peaks in the electropherogram of an on-line peptide mapping experiment of denatured alpha-lactalbumin under optimal conditions.     

On-column tryptic mapping of proteins using metal-ion-chelated magnetic silica microspheres by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Peptide mapping analysis, utilizing an easily replaceable and regenerable on-column enzymatic microreactor with metal-ion-chelated adsorption of enzyme on magnetic silica microspheres, combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), was developed. Firstly, magnetic microspheres of small size and strong magnetism were prepared through solvothermal reaction. Thereafter, by introducing tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), magnetic silica (MS) microspheres were formed. Trypsin could then be immobilized onto the MS microspheres based on the Lewis acid-base interaction through the divalent cation chelators such as iminodiacetic acid (IDA), which was chemically bound to the microspheres through the introduction of glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GLYMO). The trypsin-immobilized MS microspheres were then locally packed into the capillary by the application of a strong magnetic field using a magnet. The performance of the method was exemplified with digestion of bovine serum albumin for 5 min at 50 degrees C and the result was comparable to the 12 h in-solution digestion. The ability of regeneration of the prepared on-column microreactor and good reproducibility of microreactor before and after regeneration were also demonstrated.     

Novel monolithic enzymatic microreactor based on single-enzyme nanoparticles for highly efficient proteolysis and its application in multidimensional liquid chromatography

In this work, a novel and facile monolithic enzymatic microreactor was prepared in the fused-silica capillary via a two-step procedure including surface acryloylation and in situ aqueous polymerization/immobilization to encapsulate a single enzyme, and its application to fast protein digestion through a direct matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI-TOF-MS) analysis was demonstrated. At first, vinyl groups on the protein surface were generated by a mild acryloylation with N-acryloxysuccinimide in alkali buffer. Then, acryloylated enzyme was encapsulated into polyacrylates by free-radical copolymerization with acrylamide as the monomer, N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide as the cross-linker, and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine/ammonium persulfate as the initiator. Finally, polymers were immobilized onto the activated inner wall of capillaries via the reaction of vinyl groups. Capability of the enzyme-immobilized monolithic microreactor was demonstrated by myoglobin and bovine serum albumin as model proteins. The digestion products were characterized using MALDI-TOF-MS with sequence coverage of 94% and 29% observed. This microreactor was also applied to the analysis of fractions through two-dimensional separation of weak anion exchange/reversed-phase liquid chromatography of human liver extract. After a database search, 16 unique peptides corresponding to 3 proteins were identified when two RPLC fractions of human liver extract were digested by the microreactor. This opens a route for its future application in top–down proteomic analysis.     

Combination of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry with immobilized enzyme microreactor for peptide mapping

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has been combined with immobilized enzyme microreactor for the rapid, sensitive, and accurate tryptic mapping of protein and polypeptides. The technique utilizes the trypsin microreactor by immobilized enzyme on the glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)-modified cellulose membrane. The membrane micro-reactor was used for the tryptic mapping of cytochrome C and the results were compared with those obtained by using free trypsin. A significant increase in the overall sensitivity of the process was observed using the membrane microreactor, as well as the elimination of background signals due to the autolysis of the trypsin. Further, membrane microreactor digestions were found to be rapid and convenient.     

复合纤维素膜固定化胰蛋白酶反应器及其应用于蛋白质酶解

合成了甲基丙烯酸缩水甘油酯-纤维素复合膜,并以此膜为基质共价键合固定化胰蛋白酶,以N-苯甲酰-L-精氨酰乙酯(BAEE)为底物,应用高效液相色谱系统测定了酶固定化膜柱的催化反应特性。研究结果表明:温度、pH值、离子强度、有机溶剂及蛋白变性剂等都对固定化酶的活力有一定的影响。在最适条件下,固定化胰蛋白酶的活力为17800U/g干膜,蛋白载量为3.6mg/g(≈0.15μmol/g)干膜,活性回收率达到52%.固定化酶表现出较高的使用和储藏稳定性,在40℃下,水解BAEE底物24h活力无显着变化。固定化酶膜柱在4℃冷藏保存100d仍保存90%以上的水解活力。固定化酶反应器被应用于蛋白质酶解的肽谱实验。     

Trypsin entrapped in poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) silica sol-gel microreactor coupled to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

An enzyme-immobilized capillary microreactor for rapid protein digestion and proteomics analysis is reported. The inner surface of the fused-silica capillary was coated with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA)-entrapped silica sol-gel matrix, followed by assembly of trypsin onto the PDDA-modified surface via electrostatic adsorption. The immobilization parameters such as PDDA content in the sol-gel matrix, trypsin concentration and pH were investigated in detail. Protein samples including beta-casein, myoglobin and cytochrome c could be effectively digested and electrophoretically separated simultaneously in such a modified capillary. Just 2.26 ng (corresponding to 0.10-0.14 picomole) of sample was sufficient for on-line capillary electrophoresis peptide mapping. The efficiency of the digestion was further demonstrated by digestion of a human liver cytoplasm sample and 253 proteins were identified in one unique run.     

Immobilization of trypsin onto 1,4-diisothiocyanatobenzene-activated porous glass for microreactor-based peptide mapping by capillary electrophoresis: Effect of calcium ions on the immobilization procedure

The immobilization conditions and kinetic behaviour of trypsin, covalently immobilized via the 1,4-diisothiocyanatobenzene (DITC) linker onto aminopropylated controlled pore glass (CPG) particles, have been evaluated to establish a rapid and efficient protocol for fabrication of an immobilized enzyme microreactor (IMER) for protein hydrolysis and subsequent peptide mapping. Addition of calcium ions to either the immobilization reaction solution or hydrolysis assay was studied for a synthetic substrate. Activity was slightly higher when immobilization was carried out in the presence of Ca²⁺ whereas more enzyme could be immobilized in its absence. A protocol requiring less than 3 h was devised to obtain maximal enzymatic activity with the lowest ratio of soluble trypsin to DITC-CPG particles. The resulting immobilized enzyme was found to retain an acceptable percentage (ca. 35%) of its activity after immobilization. The particles were dry-packed into a capillary to make a microscale IMER. Repeatability, reusability and digestion efficiency of the μIMER were investigated for the substrate β-casein using capillary electrophoretic-based peptide mapping. In initial tests, a single device showed reproducible peptide maps for 21 digestions lasting 2 h each, carried out over a period of 2 months. Complete digestion of β-casein could be achieved in a few minutes (86 s residence time in the μIMER followed by a wash step).     

Development of microwave-assisted protein digestion based on trypsin-immobilized magnetic microspheres for highly efficient proteolysis followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis

In this study, very easily prepared trypsin-immobilized magnetic microspheres were applied in microwave-assisted protein digestion and firstly applied for proteome analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Magnetic microspheres with small size were synthesized and modified by 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GLYMO). Trypsin was immobilized onto magnetic microspheres through only a one-step reaction of its amine group with GLYMO. When these easily prepared trypsin-immobilized magnetic microspheres were applied in microwave-assisted protein digestion, the magnetic microspheres not only functionalized as substrate for trypsin immobilization, but also as an excellent microwave absorber and thus improved the efficiency of microwave-assisted digestion greatly. Cytochrome c was used as a model protein to verify its digestion efficiency. Without any additives such as organic solvents or urea, peptide fragments produced in 15 s could be confidently identified by MALDI-TOF-MS and better digestion efficiency was obtained comparing to conventional in-solution digestion (12 h). Besides, with an external magnet, trypsin could be used repeatedly and at the same time no contaminants were introduced into the sample solution. It was verified that the enzyme maintained high activity after seven runs. Furthermore, reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) fractions of rat liver extract were also successfully processed using this novel method. These results indicated that this fast and efficient digestion method, which combined the advantages of immobilized trypsin and microwave-assisted protein digestion, will greatly hasten the application of top-down proteomic techniques for large-scale analysis in biological and clinical research.     

Miniaturized on-line proteolysis-capillary liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for peptide mapping of lactate dehydrogenase

In this study, methodology was developed for on-line and miniaturized enzymatic digestion with liquid chromatographic (LC) separation and mass spectrometric (MS) detection. A packed capillary LC-MS system was combined with on-line trypsin cleavage of a model protein, lactate dehydrogenase, to provide an efficient system for peptide mapping. The protein was injected onto an enzymatic capillary reactor and the resulting peptides were efficiently trapped on a capillary trapping column. Different trapping columns were evaluated to achieve a high binding capacity for the peptides generated in the enzyme reactor. The peptides were further eluted from the pre-column and separated on an analytical capillary column by a buffer more suitable for the following an electrospray ionisation (ESI) MS process. An important aspect of the on-line approach was the desalting of peptides performed in the trapping column to avoid detrimental signal suppression in the ESI process. The developed on-line system was finally compared to a classical digestion in solution, with reference to peptide sequence coverage and sensitivity. It was shown that the on-line system gave more than 100% higher peptide sequence coverage than traditional digestion methods.     

Improved peak capacity for CE separations of enzyme inhibitors with activity‐based detection using magnetic bead microreactors

A technique for separating and detecting enzyme inhibitors was developed using CE with an enzyme microreactor. The on‐column enzyme microreactor was constructed using NdFeB magnet(s) to immobilize alkaline phosphatase‐coated superparamagnetic beads (2.8 μm diameter) inside a capillary before the detection window. Enzyme inhibition assays were performed by injecting a plug of inhibitor into a capillary filled with the substrate, AttoPhos. Product generated in the enzyme microreactor was detected by LIF. Inhibitor zones electrophoresed through the capillary, passed through the enzyme microreactor, and were observed as negative peaks due to decreased product formation. The goal of this study was to improve peak capacities for inhibitor separations relative to previous studies, which combined continuous engagement electrophoretically mediated microanalysis and transient engagement electrophoretically mediated microanalysis to study enzyme inhibition. The effects of electric field strength, bead injection time and inhibitor concentrations on peak capacity and peak width were investigated. Peak capacities were increased to ≥20 under optimal conditions of electric field strength and bead injection time for inhibition assays with arsenate and theophylline. Five reversible inhibitors of alkaline phosphatase (theophylline, vanadate, arsenate, L ‐tryptophan and tungstate) were separated and detected to demonstrate the ability of this technique to analyze complex inhibitor mixtures.     

Development of an In-Line Enzyme Reactor Integrated into a Capillary Electrophoresis System

The goal of this paper was to develop an in-line immobilized enzyme reactor (IMER) integrated into a capillary electrophoresis platform. In our research, we created the IMER by adsorbing trypsin onto the inner surface of a capillary in a short section. Enzyme immobilization was possible due to the electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged fused silica capillary surface and trypsin. The reactor was formed by simply injecting and removing trypsin solution from the capillary inlet (~1–2 cms). We investigated the factors affecting the efficiency of the reactor. The main advantages of the proposed method are the fast, cheap, and easy formation of an IMER with in-line protein digestion capability. Human tear samples were used to test the efficiency of the digestion in the microreactor.     

小分子表面活性剂在胶内酶切增效中的应用

本研究成功地将一种有机小分子表面活性剂RapiGest SF(Waters)用于改进电泳分离的蛋白质的鉴定效率。通过基质辅助激光解析电离飞行时间质谱(MALDI-TOF-MS)的肽质量指纹谱,考察了酶切时间、加入量、加样次序、点靶方法对方法灵敏度、蛋白质鉴定率的影响。RapiGest SF浓度为0.5%~1%,在酶切之前加入可获得更多的肽段峰和更高的鉴定率。本方法考染体系的总灵敏度为332fmol,银染体系为664fmol。比较了RapiGest SF与MALDI-TOF-MS和电喷雾质谱(ESI-MS)兼容性,未观察到明显的负影响。方法操作简便,重复性较好,适合鉴定电泳分离的低丰度蛋白质。     

Trends in metal-binding and metalloprotein analysis

This review describes recent tendencies for metal-binding and metalloprotein analysis, emphasizing metal quantification in proteins through X-ray, atomic absorption, mass spectrometric techniques, and others. Hyphenated techniques such as capillary electrophoresis-synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence (CE-SRXRF), laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), etc. are also presented. As protein separation techniques electrophoresis (mainly sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE), capillary electrophoresis (CE) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are indicated, due to their inherent sensitivity, resolution and/or easy implementation. Latest challenges in metallomics are also commented.     

Capillary column high-performance liquid chromatographic-electrospray ionization triple-stage quadrupole mass spectrometric analysis of proteins separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis application to cerebellar protein mapping

A method is presented for the structural characterization of proteins separated by two-dimensional poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE). The method includes separation of a protein mixture by 2D-PAGE, recovery of proteins from the gel spots revealed by copper staining and analysis of the proteins by triple-stage quadrupole mass spectrometry using an electrospray ionization interface (ESI-TSQMS). Prior to the mass spectrometric analysis, the extracted proteins were passed through a small reversed-phase column (10 × 4.0 mm I.D.) to remove salts and gel-derived contaminants and then introduced into the mass spectrometer through a reversed-phase capillary column with 0.25 mm I.D. Application of the method to the analysis of rat cerebellar proteins suggests that the molecular mass could be accurately determined with sub-picomole amounts of protein samples derived from one or two 2D gels. The method was also useful for peptide mapping and determination of amino acid sequences of proteins micro-prepared from the 2D gel. Because 2D-PAGE has an excellent resolving power in protein separation and because capillary LC-ESI-TSQMS provides structural information with very small amounts of samples, the combined system of 2D-PAGE and capillary LC-ESI-TSQMS described here should allow wide applications to molecular studies of genes and proteins, such as identifications of protein spots on 2D gels, confirmation of gene/protein sequences and analysis of post-translational modification of proteins present naturally in tissue/cell extracts or expressed by recombinant DNA techniques.     

亲和层析结合生物质谱技术分析鉴定猕猴血清中的重组人内皮抑制素

建立了将固相亲和层析与生物质谱技术相结合 ,分离提取鉴定给药猕猴血清中含有 6×His序列的重组人内皮抑制素的方法。用固相免疫亲和层析和金属螯合层析两种方法分别提取并富集血清中的重组药物 ,采用基质辅助激光解吸 电离飞行时间质谱的直接分析和肽质量指纹谱分析与数据库检索 ,分别对两种亲和提取方法得到的药物蛋白前体collagenXVIII[Homosapiens](IDofSWISS -PROT TrEMBL :Q8WXI5 )进行了鉴定     

Peptide mapping using capillary electrophoresis offline coupled to matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry

This article reports the results of a study carried out to evaluate the offline hyphenation of capillary zone electrophoresis with matrix-assisted lased desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) for the analysis of low-abundant complex samples, represented by the tryptic phosphorylated peptides of phosphoproteins, such as α-casein, β-casein, and fetuin. The proposed method employs a latex-coated capillary and consists in the online preconcentration of the tryptic peptides by a pH-mediated stacking method, their separation by capillary zone electrophoresis, and subsequent deposition of the separated analytes onto a MALDI target for their MS analysis. The online preconcentration method allows loading a large sample volume (～150?nL), which is introduced into the capillary after the hydrodynamic injection of a short plug of 1.0?M ammonium hydroxide solution and is sandwiched between two plugs of the acidic background electrolyte solution (BGE) filling the capillary. The sample spotting of the separated analytes onto the MALDI target is performed either during or postseparation using an automatic spotting device connected to the exit of the separation capillary. The proposed method allows the separation and identification of multiphosphorylated peptides from other peptides and enables their identification at femtomole level with improved efficiency compared with LC approaches hyphenated to MS.     

Comprehensive profiling of the complex dendrimeric contrast agent Gadomer using a combined approach of CE, MS, and CE-MS

The complex dendrimeric contrast agent Gadomer has been comprehensively characterized using various mass spectrometric techniques in combination with capillary electrophoresis. The analytical challenges arising from the structure of this analyte, e.g., the presence of a complex isotopic pattern originating from multiple gadolinium chelates could be overcome using this combined approach. Results obtained from initial MALDI-TOF-MS measurements could subsequently be complemented and confirmed by CE-ESI-TOF-MS measurements. Furthermore, high resolution Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-MS (FT-ICR-MS) as a stand alone technique and in combination with CE was performed to obtain mass spectra of high mass accuracy and resolution of various impurities and related dendrimers present in low concentrations in several Gadomer batches. The profile of related dendrimers and impurities of lower molecular weight present in Gadomer could be elucidated and variances in the pattern of related dendrimers present in batches obtained via different synthetic routes could be detected. The qualitative analysis of Gadomer using MS techniques in combination with CE provides the fundamental basis for a framework of analytical methodologies for the characterization of Gadomer. By designing such a framework of methodologies the challenges associated with the introduction of dendrimers into the clinical stage may be overcome and the reproducible quality and safety of these innovative products can be ensured.     

India ink staining after sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and in conjunction with Western blots for peptide mapping by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

We present an approach that allows matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometric (MALDI-TOFMS) peptide mapping of proteins separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and electroblotted onto nitrocellulose (NC). After blocking the nitrocellulose membrane with polyvinylpyrrolidone-40 the immobilized proteins are visualized using India Ink staining which allows the detection of low nanogram amounts of protein. The utilization of a low concentration of Tween 20 (0.05%) in the India Ink staining solution does not negatively impair the quality of the mass spectra. Due to the virtual nondestructive nature of the stain proteolytic peptides could be recovered from the NC membrane. Taking into account minor precautions during the sample manipulation and concentration and by loading the sample onto a pre-crystallized matrix layer, high quality mass spectral data were obtained on <100 femtomoles of protein loaded onto the gel. Finally, the use of India Ink in conjunction with Western blot analysis is also demonstrated. A rat plasma protein, characterized by Western blot as a covalently modified protein-drug compound, was subjected to peptide mapping and post source decay (PSD) sequencing of peptides. The zomepirac-modified protein was identified as the alpha-subunit of fibrinogen.     

A replaceable dual-enzyme capillary microreactor using magnetic beads and its application for simultaneous detection of acetaldehyde and pyruvate

A novel replaceable dual-enzyme capillary microreactor was developed and evaluated using magnetic fields to immobilize the alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)- and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-coated magnetic beads at desired positions in the capillary. The dual-enzyme assay was achieved by measuring the two consumption peaks of the coenzyme β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), which were related to the ADH reaction and LDH reaction. The dual-enzyme capillary microreactor was constructed using magnetic beads without any modification of the inner surface of the capillary, and showed great stability and reproducibility. The electrophoretic resolution for different analytes can be easily controlled by altering the relative distance of different enzyme-coated magnetic beads. The apparent K(m) values for acetaldehyde with ADH-catalyzed reaction and for pyruvate with LDH-catalyzed reaction were determined. The detection limits for acetaldehyde and pyruvate determination are 0.01 and 0.016 mM (S/N = 3), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to simultaneously determine the acetaldehyde and pyruvate contents in beer samples. The results indicated that combing magnetic beads with CE is of great value to perform replaceable and controllable multienzyme capillary microreactor for investigation of a series of enzyme reactions and determination of multisubstrates.